Fairway Primary School

Stockland & Yarcombe Pre-School

Inspection report for early years provision

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Stockland & Yarcombe Pre-School

106046 Unique Reference Number 15 March 2007 Inspection date Michelle Tuck Inspector

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Stockland & Yarcombe Pre-School

Village Hall, Stockland, Honiton, Devon, EX14 9EF Setting Address

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Stockland & Yarcombe Pre-School

07890 347631 or 07775701269 Telephone number info@stocklandandyarcombepreschool.co.uk E-mail Stockland and Yarcombe Pre-School Registered person Integrated Type of inspection Sessional care Type of care

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Stockland & Yarcombe Pre-School

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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ABOUT THIS INSPECTION

The purpose of this inspection is to assure government, parents and the public of the quality of childcare and, if applicable, of nursery education. The inspection was carried out under Part XA Children Act 1989 as introduced by the Care Standards Act 2000 and, where nursery education is provided, under Schedule 26 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004; the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding; and, where nursery education is provided, the Curriculum guidance for the foundation stage. The report includes information on any complaints about the childcare provision which Ofsted has received since the last inspection or registration or 1 April 2004 whichever is the later.

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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The key inspection judgements and what they mean

For more information about early years inspections, please see the booklet Are you ready for your inspection? which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are satisfactory. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

Stockland and Yarcombe Pre-school is run by a committee. It is set in the rural village of Stockland, East Devon. Children attend from surrounding villages.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The person in charge holds a Diploma in Pre-school Practice and the deputy holds a level 3 qualification.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The pre-school is registered to care for 26 children aged from two to five years. There are currently fourteen children on the register, of whom thirteen are in receipt of funding for nursery education.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 Children attend during term time, Monday to Friday, from 09.15 to 12.00. A parent and toddler group also takes place two mornings each week, and a lunch club operates once a week from 12.00 until 13.00.

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WHAT SORT OF SETTING IS IT?

The children have access to a play hall, pre-school room, toilets and outdoor play area.

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Helping children to be healthy

The provision is satisfactory. Children benefit from most aspects of their health care being positively promoted. For example, staff hold valid first aid certificates; tables are cleaned with anti-bacterial spray before and after snack time; and the premises are clean and well maintained. Children are encouraged to take responsibility for their own hygiene. There are good facilities for hand washing available in the pre-school room such as liquid soap, running water and paper towels, however, children are at risk of cross infection as they all wash their hands in the same water.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children's dietary requirements are appropriately recorded to ensure their individual needs are met. Children enjoy regular snacks and drinks and healthy eating is promoted. For example, the children choose from a selection of fruit and savoury snacks. Children can have a drink of water whenever they wish, as a jug of water is accessible to children at all times. This helps to promote their well being.

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Helping children to be healthy

Children enjoy a good variety of play experiences using the outdoor environment. They learn to use the space well as they ride around on the cars and bikes. They develop good coordination skills as they climb on the indoor climbing frame. They love parachute games, which encourage them to explore different ways with movement. They learn to judge space well, as they curl up in the bunk bed in the playhouse. Physical play is well planned to help children develop coordination and control, as they explore and try out new challenges.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The provision is satisfactory. Children's understanding of safety is promoted well. Staff discuss limits and boundaries with them within everyday activities, encouraging children to develop very good levels of independence within the safe environment. Staff routinely explain and reinforce safe practice, like not running indoors. Consistent reminders about rules help children to begin to take responsibility for keeping themselves safe. However children do not always follow the rules when the toddlers join them, for example, some children take additional toys onto the climbing frame, or throw toys from the window of the playhouse, which compromises their safety.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children learn to use the play environment purposefully. A range of good quality resources are stored at child-height, so that children can select them freely. Appropriate risk assessments are conducted and there is clear planning for safe evacuation, which is practised with children, so that they understand what they must do in an emergency. The fire log is lacking in detail. Accidents are routinely monitored and the premises are secure. Effective procedures are in

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 place to monitor visitors to the setting and a system to ensure children are only collected by people authorised to do so.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Children's welfare is generally safeguarded as staff are aware of signs of child abuse and the importance of reporting concerns. However, the child protection policy procedures do not refer to the Local Safeguarding Children's Board (LSCB).

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The provision is good. Children of all ages are happy and settled. They separate well from their parents on arrival and have formed positive relationships with new staff and their peers. Younger children experience a wide range of activities which are generally age appropriate, both inside and outside. They particularly enjoy the key worker time when they have a practical session with a spinner and a letter template and are beginning to learn about phonics.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Children experience a wide range of activities across all six areas of learning due to sound planning. The staff are very enthusiastic and committed to the children. Staff deployment is very good, children receive adequate support to complete activities and staff are skilled at asking open questions to encourage the children to think about what they are learning. Children's progress is beginning to be recorded but this is not yet used to influence future planning.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children routinely count, for example with cups at snack time and enjoy learning about size and shape through sequencing bears. They are stimulated by appropriate displays around the room which also promote numerals and letters. Children themselves have written the labels on display around the room, for example 'role play' area.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children learn about the wider world through their topic work, for example, children learn about St Patrick's day, they make shamrocks from egg cartons and staff talk to them about what this celebration means. Children are confident, motivated and interested in learning. They concentrate and become engrossed in self-chosen tasks, such as, colouring or painting. They excitedly make and decorate wooden spoon people, and staff support them well raising their awareness of shape, colour and size. Some children write their names on their creations whilst others are beginning to form letters by copying from the staff. They move around independently choosing what they want to play from the resources set out. Mathematical skills are promoted frequently. Compare bears are used in the morning session to help the children count the number of children present. The supervisor gives each bear a child's name, then the children

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

explore letters and learn about simple calculations using the bears. For example, the supervisor says " We have eight bears. How many children do we have?" The children correctly answer ten. The supervisor then asks " How many more do I need to make ten?" Children correctly answer two. Children use their hand prints to find out how many hands tall they are, and confidently count ten seeds to plant and watch grow.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 Children confidently use tools for developing their pre-writing skills, for example, they paint, draw and some attempt to write their name. Effective teaching is used to encourage enjoyment of books and stories. Telling stories with props is used to grasp children's attention and help those who find sitting still more difficult. Children excitedly contribute their ideas and focus on the story of 'We're going on a bear hunt'. The children's enjoyment is extended when a member of staff becomes the bear and hides. The children then act out the story to go and find the bear in his cave. Most children are confident speakers. They are encouraged to recall previous experiences, contribute at circle time and express themselves. Children are given the freedom to be creative when making mothers day cards. They can decorate their's as they wish,

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Children thoroughly enjoy singing their favourite nursery rhymes. They take it in turns to take a puppet out of the bag and match their favourite nursery rhyme to it. For example, twinkle twinkle, when they choose a star.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

The provision is satisfactory. Children's spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered. They demonstrate a strong sense of belonging in the happy and confident way in which they are settled at pre-school. Good support from staff helps them to understand what is expected of them and the rules of the pre-school, however when the pre-school is operating in conjunction with the toddler group, pre-school children do not always behave in the way they know they should. For example, some children pull faces at the toddler children and throw toys out of the playhouse window. Frequent praise, encouragement and guidance promotes positive behaviour the majority of the time. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are welcomed to the pre-school and staff have efficient systems in place for meeting their needs. Liaison with parents and other professionals ensure all children's individual needs can be met. Appropriate resources and

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Helping children make a positive contribution

activities enable all children to participate and be challenged.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Partnership with parents in respect of nursery education is satisfactory. Parents receive a good range of information about the pre-school routines and the Foundation Stage curriculum. Children's work is taken home and parents can speak to their child's key worker whenever they wish. However more formal opportunities for parents to discuss their child's progress are not currently offered, and limited records are kept in terms of progress made. Details of topics and activities are included in the regular newsletter so that parents can support learning at home.

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Organisation

The organisation is satisfactory. The setting meets the needs of the range of children for whom it provides. Children enjoy attending the pre-school and arrive enthusiastically. Space is used well so they have ample room for a wide range of activities that support their development and learning. Clear arrangements are in place for recruitment and good information regarding staff suitability is available for inspection. Thorough induction procedures are conducted with new staff to ensure they are aware of daily routines and procedures for managing children's care. Policies and

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Organisation

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 procedures cover all aspects of managing children's health, safety and wellbeing. Children's records are in place and maintained appropriately. The pre-school sessions are well organised and run smoothly, however when the toddler group is operating in conjunction with the pre-school, the session is not so well organised and consequently the children's behaviour deteriorates. The group was offering care for children under three at the inspection and had not applied for a variation to their conditions of registration to reflect this. This means they are in breech of their conditions of registration. A variation to conditions was applied at the inspection to ensure the registration conditions allows them to do this.

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Organisation

Leadership and management in respect of nursery education is good. Strong leadership on a daily basis ensures children are able to make good progress towards the early learning goals. Planning is clear and learning objectives identified. However systems that are in place for monitoring and evaluating the curriculum are insufficient. For example, planning has not been refined to identify children's next steps for learning, and activities are not evaluated regularly. Staff have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. Continual professional development through ongoing training and appraisal is supported well by the committee.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last Children Act inspection the group agreed to ensure the child protection policy is in line with local area child protection committee procedures. This is now in place, however the procedures require to be updated again in line with the Local Safeguarding Children Board. ( LSCB). They also agreed to ensure the health and safety policy does not discriminate against children with special needs. The group now have an appropriate policy in place. They were asked to ensure staff interactions with children acknowledge and promote good behaviour. Staff interact well with children, giving them appropriate praise and encouragement. They were also asked to make sure information for parents about policies and procedures is accurate and current. Most policies and procedures are regularly updated and available to parents.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last education inspection there were four key issues raised. The group were asked to develop a system of assessing children's progress using regular observations linked to the stepping stones towards the early learning goals and to use these assessments to plan for next steps in learning for individual children across all areas of learning to ensure challenges and progression for all abilities. This is still on-going. They also agreed to provide more opportunities for children to use mathematical skills in everyday activities. Children regularly count, sort and problem solve in everyday activities, such as snack time. The group were asked to plan and support a wider range of opportunities which promote children's physical development and builds on children's favoured activities. Also to plan and support more opportunities for children to explore different materials and media and to help them express their responses. There is a

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Improvements since the last inspection

good programme of planned activities across the six areas of learning, which build upon children's experiences and allow them the freedom to explore and create at their own pace.

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Complaints since the last inspection

Since the last inspection there have been no complaints made to Ofsted that required the provider or Ofsted to take any action in order to meet the National Standards.

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Complaints since the last inspection

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000 The provider is required to keep a record of complaints made by parents, which they can see on request. The complaints record may contain complaints other than those made to Ofsted.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

On the basis of the evidence collected on this inspection:

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the care are satisfactory. The registered person meets the National Standards for under 8s day care and childminding.

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THE QUALITY AND STANDARDS OF THE CARE AND NURSERY EDUCATION

The quality and standards of the nursery education are satisfactory.

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The quality and standards of the care

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • improve hand washing procedures to ensure children are protected from cross infection • ensure the child protection policy reflects procedures in line with the Local Safeguarding Children's Board ( LSCB) • consider the organisation of the joint toddler and pre-school sessions to ensure individual needs are met, children are safe and well supervised and behave appropriately. • maintain a detailed fire log

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

To improve the quality and standards of nursery education further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s): • provide more formal opportunities for parents to discuss their child's progress • develop and implement a system to evaluate activities, and record more detailed observations of children's progress. Use these to plan the next steps of children's learning.

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

set out in the leaflet Complaints about Ofsted Early Years: concerns or complaints about Ofsted's role in regulating and inspecting childcare and early education (HMI ref no 2599) which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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The quality and standards of the nursery education

This inspection was carried out under the provisions of Part XA of the Children Act 1989, as inserted by the Care Standards Act 2000

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